The HEA Cafe

Will you marry sell me?

One thing I didn’t realize after I signed with my agent was that I would be asked to try to sell on proposal.

Okay, I had heard over and over that the unpubbed would never sell on proposal and that they shouldn’t even try. But, I had heard that from other writers in the industry, not from my agent. This is why having an agent you trust is so important. My gut told me that she was leading me down the right path (for me), so I happily followed. Listen to your gut, it’s usually right.

It took three proposals and almost exactly one year from signing with Deidre before I sold. With each proposal I wrote, I became a stronger writer. But let me tell ya, it wasn’t easy at first because I’m a pantser at heart.

And, unfortunately for the pantser, you have to include a synopsis included with your proposal. I can honestly say this was the hardest part of the process for me. But I finally figured it out with the help of two fantastic CPs and my agent.

For me, a proposal is 50-60 pages of a manuscript, an 8-10 page synopsis (usually 10. I pretty much subscribe to the “1 page for every 10,000 word” theory of writing synopses) and blurbs for any connecting books.

Selling on proposal is a decision made by you and your agent. If you’re uncomfortable as an unpubbed author with trying, that’s okay. Just be sure to discuss this with your agent. Talk about the pros and cons and realize that once the proposal is sold, you have to finish the book(s) on deadline. That pressure might be too much for your first sale. I know many a writer who let the demands of their first deadline freak them out after they sold on proposal. You’ll always be safe if you discuss your concerns/fears with your agent.  This is your career and part of his/her job is to guide you into success.

If y’all decide that you should sell on a full manuscript first, realize that in the future, you will probably be asked to sell on proposal. This is a great way to keep the money coming in and to keep fresh projects going out. Just manage your time so that you don’t feel overwhelmed.

I’m still new at all this, so I’m fumbling my way through. Writing on my contracted work in the mornings, then working on my new ideas/proposals or revising in the afternoons, seems to work for me. Once you complete your proposal, send it and forget it. Get back to your contracted work and finish it so that when you sell your next work, you will be ahead of the game.

Peace y’all!
Melissa (Mel) Francis

Banned Book Week runs from September 29th through October 6^th. Over the next couple of days on my personal blog (http://monicaburns.blogspot.com/), I’ll be posting brief blurbs about books I’ve read over the years that have been banned or burned in places throughout the world. On Thursday, I’ll talk about actual book burnings. And stay tuned through out the week as there will be a surprise coming on Friday.
1984
by George Orwell

This book about Big Brother and its political themes was banned in the USSR and challenged in Florida based on what challengers considered pro-communist and sexual themes throughout the book.

For the book synopsis and purchase information, click here.

Monica

Monica Burns - http://www.monicaburns.com | http://www.myspace.com/monicaburns
Mirage, Samhain, 10/07 | Dangerous, Samhain 03/08
Come Enjoy the Ahh…Sensation

Hi everyone! This is my first post in the HEA Cafe. I’m very excited to be here. I’m going to be talking about using two pen names.

The conventional wisdom is to pick a genre and a name and establish yourself there before branching out into other genres and using other names. So, did I follow conventional wisdom? Nope. Some imp of perversity pinched me and I now have two pen names in two genres. Actually, since the two books I sold were so different I didn’t want any of my readers to get content shock.

 As Darcy McKenna, I write romantic suspense. My debut novel is out currently in e-book format and will be out in print October 19th from The Wild Rose Press. The premise of FATED LOVE is soul mates. And what happens if someone who isn’t your soul mate believes he is.

As Renee Russell, I write historical fiction with a literary slant. My debut novel as Renee came out this past January. KATE’S PRIDE is a cross between Gone With The Wind and To Kill A Mockingbird.

So, now I’m out there in the real world and the internet world trying to build a base for two different names at the same time. That can be a little confusing for me. I have to make sure I write down which name I’m promoting at a given time. Am I Darcy for this promotion or am I Renee? Or am I both? Gah!!!

I actually had two separate websites for a brief period, but that became a problem because there’s not enough time in the day to work my day job, write more novels, promote the two that are out there and try to keep up with two websites. So I contacted my web host company and asked them to walk me through the process to fix it so that no matter which name or website is entered into the search the person will end up at one website. That’s worked out much much better.

So, what do y’all think? Have I made my life that much harder by using two pen names at the beginning of my career? I know there are others out there who have done this too. How is it working out for you?

 Darcy

aka Renee

www.darcymckenna.com

www.reneerussell.com